KALAMAZOO, Mich. – It came right down to the end, but the Western Michigan men's tennis team fell to No. 49 Drake Sunday morning in East Lansing, Mich., with the ending coming right down to a three-set tiebreaker at No. 5.
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The Broncos came right out and took the doubles point from the nationally-ranked Bulldogs, as the No. 76 ranked duo of Daniel Loebel/Kennosuke Nouchi defeated Phillips/Wood 6-3 to open and Jannik Opitz/Eric Olivarez clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 3 to put WMU up 1-0.
In singles play, the Bulldogs came out and tied it up 1-1 with a win at No. 4, but Opitz but the Broncos back up 2-1 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6, improving the freshman to 20-6 this season, making him the only 20-win player on the team. After a Drake win at No. 1, Nouchi earned a tough 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 2 to make it 3-2 WMU. The Bulldogs came back to claim the final two matches, including the match clincher in a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 5.
The Broncos will now play two straight home matches, hosting Wright State on Sunday, March 19 at 11 a.m. and then hosting Grand Valley State on Monday, March 20 at 1:30 p.m.
